BookRenter.com's
5-Star Satisfaction Guarantee

We strive to deliver the best value to our customers and ensure complete satisfaction for all our textbook rentals.

You can return your online books for any reason within our refund period – no questions asked.

Every order is available for express shipping, and return shipping is always free.

You'll be happy with the quality of your books (or we'll ship you another one on our dime).

You can extend your rental up to 14 days – at the same cheap daily rental rate.

If you decide to keep the book it will never cost more than the purchase price.

As always, you have access to over 5 million titles. Plus, you can choose from 5 rental periods, so you only pay for what you’ll use. And if you ever run into trouble, our top-notch U.S. based Customer Service team is ready to help by email, chat or phone.

Product Details

Edition:

Binding:

Publisher:

Supplemental materials are not guaranteed for used textbooks or rentals (access codes, DVDs, workbooks).

ISBN:
9780226041445
/ 0226041441
The Necessity of Politics: Reclaiming American Public Life (Morality and Society Series)
by:Christopher Beem

Even in the midst of an economic boom, most Americans would agree that our civic institutions are hard pressed and that we are growing ever more cynical and disconnected from one another.In response to this bleak assessment, advocates of "civil society" argue that rejuvenating our neighborhoods, churches, and community associations will lead to a more...
Show More

Even in the midst of an economic boom, most Americans would agree that our civic institutions are hard pressed and that we are growing ever more cynical and disconnected from one another.In response to this bleak assessment, advocates of "civil society" argue that rejuvenating our neighborhoods, churches, and community associations will lead to a more moral, civic-minded polity. Christopher Beem argues that while the movement's goals are laudable, simply restoring local institutions will not solve the problem; a civil society also needs politics and government to provide a sense of shared values and ideas. Tracing the concept back to Tocqueville and Hegel, Beem shows that both thinkers faced similar problems and both rejected civil society as the sole solution. He then shows how, in the case of the Civil Rights movement, both political groups and the federal government were necessary to effect a new consensus on race.Taking up the arguments of Robert Putnam, Michael Sandel, and others, this timely book calls for a more developed sense of what the state is for and what our politics ought to be about."This book is bound to incite controversy and to contribute to our ongoing grappling with where our own democratic political culture is going. . . . Beem helps us to get things right by offering a corrective to any and all visions of civil society sanitized from politics."—Jean Bethke Elshtain, from the Foreword"[Beem] makes an impressive case. At the end of the day, there really is no substitute for governmental authority in fostering the moral identity of the body politic."—Robert P. George, Times Literary Supplement
Show Less

Support

What's Hot

Our Story

Since launching the first textbook rental site in 2006, BookRenter has never wavered from our mission to make education more affordable for all students. Every day, we focus on delivering students the best prices, the most flexible options, and the best service on earth. On March 13, 2012 BookRenter.com, Inc. formally changed its name to Rafter, Inc. We are still the same company and the same people, only our corporate name has changed.